THE DEVELOPMENT OF FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION SCHEME IN WESTERN NIGERIA, 1952-1966: AN ANALYSIS S. Ademola Ajayi Abstract In 1955, the government of Western Region of Nigeria introduced a free primary education programme. That scheme, which featured prominently up till 1966, suffered a major blow, following the military take-over of government in that year. Despite this, the scheme has left an indelible imprint in the annals of education in Western Nigeria and the whole country. Using both primary and secondary documents, this paper analyses the circumstances surrounding the introduction of this revolutionary scheme, as well as its historical development. The paper concludes with an examination of some of the impacts of the programme. Introduction The 1950s ushered in a revolutionary phase in the history of education in Nigeria. This period witnessed the introduction of Free Education scheme in Western Region and marked a radical departure from the hitherto existing educational patterns not only in Western Nigeria but the entire country. This pace-setting epoch, whose proposals were presented in 1952, was launched in January 1955. It was featured as a cardinal programme of the Action Group in Western Nigeria and continued to be the official policy of the Western Region government until 1966 when a military coup d’état suspended all political activities, and concomitantly, the programmes of the respective regional political parties existing then. Although the Free Education programme commenced effectively in 1955 when it was launched, preparations for it had begun in 1952 when proposals for the scheme were tabled before the Western Region House of Assembly. This, therefore, is what informs our choice of 1952 as the take-off date in this paper. Our terminal date is 1966 because the military take-over of power in the country that year effectively stopped the scheme. Western Nigeria–the focal point of this paper–consisted of eight provinces namely, Abeokuta, Benin, Colony (i.e. Lagos), Delta, Ibadan, Ijebu, Ondo, and Oyo. These were collectively known as the 2 Free Primary Education in Western Nigeria “western provinces”, a term that was formally applied to the entire region in 1939 when the administration of the colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria, created in 1906, was reorganized into two main groups of provinces–the Eastern and Western provinces respectively (Asiwaju 1980:429). This is the area covered by the former Western, Mid-Western and parts of Lagos States respectively, and the present-day Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Lagos, Edo and Delta States. Purpose of the Study The issue of Free Primary Education scheme in Western Nigeria is very topical. Thus, it has been a perennial theme in some academic symposia, lectures, debates, reputable journals and standard textbooks. However, there are still some salient issues concerning the scheme that have not been exhaustively and objectively discussed. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the issues relating to the development of the Free Primary Education scheme in the region between 1952 and 1966. This is with a view to highlighting the socio-cultural, economic, historical and political prelude to the scheme. Also, the study is to highlight the features of the scheme in terms of establishment of schools, rise in pupils’ enrolment and government support for the scheme in terms of budgetary allocation. The study also examines the pitfalls of the scheme as well as its strengths. Specifically, an attempt is made to answer the following research questions in the study: i. What were the features of the Free Primary Education programme in Western Nigeria? ii. What constitute the socio-cultural, economic, historical and political prelude to the scheme? iii. How was the scheme launched and implemented? iv. Did the scheme face any obstacles? v. What were/are the benefits and impact of the scheme? Prelude to the Introduction of Free Education It is common knowledge that the Christian Missionaries pioneered western education in Western Nigeria in particular and S. Ademola Ajayi 3 Nigeria in general. The missionaries’ efforts were, in the course of time, complemented by the British colonial administration. By the mid-twentieth century, therefore, it could be rightly asserted that the Western form of literary education had, to some extent, been firmly rooted in Western Nigeria–thanks to the joint effort of the various Christian Missions and the colonial government. However, because of the limited objectives of the pioneers of Western Education in Nigeria, educational development in Western Nigeria as was the case in the entire country in the period before 1950 was grossly inadequate for meeting the needs of a modern state. The missions in the South were interested in education as an instrument of evangelization, while the colonial administration saw the schools as agencies for producing various categories of minor functionaries (such as clerks, junior technicians in public works, sanitary inspectors etc). For Nigeria, the decade of the 1950s was marked by the crucial transition from colonial to independent status (Abernethy 1952:125). In 1951, the country adopted a Federal Constitution named after its author–Sir John Macpherson. Through its provisions, the regional Houses of Assembly ceased to be potent advisory bodies for which they had been noted since their formation in 1946. Henceforth, the new constitution provided for democratic election to the regional Houses of Assembly. But, more importantly, the legislature of each region was empowered to make laws for peace, order and good government of the region, with respect to certain enumerated subjects, of which education was one (Macpherson Constitution 1951; Section 92). With this new development, therefore, responsibility for education devolved on the governments of the regions. Consequently, ministries of education were created in each of the Regions of Nigeria, and were responsible for education in their respective regions, while the Federal Ministry of Education was in charge of Education in the Federal Territory of Lagos. The Action Group Party led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, won the first election to the Western House of Assembly in 1952. In his first budget speech, Chief Awolowo (who functioned then as the Regional Minister for Local Government and as well the unofficial Leader of Government Business) made it clear to the members of the House that his government would give top priority to education, 4 Free Primary Education in Western Nigeria among other things, as far as that budget would allow. He spelt this out as a basic principle by which his party was to be guided. “As he stressed in later years, “as far as possible, expenditure on services which tend to the welfare and health and education of the people should be increased at the expense of any expenditure that does not answer to the same test” (Awolowo 1960:263). In July of the same year (1952), the Minister of Education for the Western Region, Chief S. O. Awokoya, presented a comprehensive set of proposals calling for a free, universal and compulsory education otherwise known as the Universal Primary Education (U.P.E.) for the Western Region by January 1955 (Awokoya’a Proposal 1952). To make such a programme possible without lowering standards drastically, the minister included in his proposal a massive teacher-training programme, the expansion of teacher training facilities and secondary schools, the introduction of secondary technical education and Secondary Modern school (Western House of Assembly Debates: 30 July 1952). This was the prelude to the birth of what Babs Fafunwa (1974:168) has described as “the boldest and perhaps the most unprecedented educational scheme in Africa South of the Sahara” as an ample demonstration of the Western Regional government’s whole-hearted commitment to the vital interest of her subjects. The Launching and Implementation of the Scheme With the introduction of Awokoya’s proposal, the Western Nigerian government began to make a series of preparations from July 1952 to December 1954 to meet the January 1955 deadline. Among other measures, there was a massive teacher-training programme put in place to complement the existing one. Similarly, facilities for secondary schools were expanded while the pre-1955 period also witnessed the introduction of secondary technical education and secondary modern schools. As planned by the government, the Free Education scheme was formally introduced on 17 January, 1955. “The launching of this scheme”, says Fajana (1978:238), “was a milestone in the educational history of Nigeria.” A remarkable feature of the educational reform of this era was the rapid numerical growth of schools at all levels–primary, secondary (modern and grammar) as S. Ademola Ajayi 5 well as tertiary. Teacher training institutions were equally expanded, all with the aim of translating the proposal of the government into reality. The greatest expansion of this period was at the primary school level. Thus, the number of primary schools rose from 3,550 in 1952 to 6,274 by the end of 1954 (Taiwo 1978:116). By 1955, the figure had risen to 6,407 (see Table 1). By the end of 1958, the number of primary schools had risen as high as 6,670. The general trend of expansion of primary and post-primary schools is well illustrated in Table 1 below TABLE 1 NUMBER OF SCHOOLS IN THE WESTERN REGION BY TYPE 1954 – 60 Type of School 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 Primary ---* 6,407 6,603 6,628 6,670 6,518 6,450 Secondary Modern 9 180 106+ 254 262 420 533 Secondary Grammar 59 73 91 108 117 138 167 Grade III Teacher Training 42 59 69 71 70# 67 69 Grade II Teacher Training 21 25 27 27 28 30 31 Vocational Schools -- -- -- 2 2 2 5 Note:* Accurate figures not known + Reduction in 1955 figure due to consolidation of number of school.